Newbee, confused and need some guidance.

[Chad6312]

Hello everyone,

Let me start out by saying Thank You for looking at my post. I have been prowling this website for a while and reading different post trying to absorb as much information as possible.

A little bit of info on myself. I grew up on Mississippi where no one I knew had wood stoves. We have moved into our first house (3700 sq ft). It is a two story with a walk out basement. It also has a wood stove in the basement connected to a external masonry (brick and mortar) chimney. The chimney is about 35-40’ tall with a about an 8 X 13 clay liner that is perfectly strait and in good condition. I say about because I have not gotten up the nerve to get on top of my roof and measure myself. So I’m going off what my chimney inspector has told me.

Our current wood stove is just a cast iron box (no cat, secondary burner, nor a window) with 2 sq ft or less of internal space. Since I have limited experience in using wood stoves, I find it difficult to control and get overnight burns. So we would like to replace it with a larger, more efficient, and easier to control for supplemental heat with (12 hr burns) a central air return grill in the same room of the stove. So, due to the space, I need something that can really put out the BTUs.

Now that I have my situation explained and out of the way, I can ask my questions.

1. Does anyone know of a large, efficient, easy to control stove that will work with my chimney setup? I say easy to control because I worried about overnight burns going nuclear and I have read about some stoves having a bimetallic control preventing such a thing.
2. If there are no stoves that will be a good fit, I’m thinking of running a pre-insulated 6” stainless steel liner down my current 8 X 13 clay flue by myself. Do you thing it would work? I’m trying to avoid demolishing my current clay flue. I just don’t have to $4K I have been quoted to have someone come out and do it for me.
3. I’m confused about the BTU statements. I don’t believe the any of the manufacture web sights (I guess I have been jaded about manufacture exaggerating there product). Should I believe the EPA Woodstove BTU list? I have attached it bellow.
4. What would you do in my situation?

The different stoves I have been looking at are:

Kuma Sequoia and Wood Classic
Blaze King King and Princess
Woodstove’s Ideal Steel and Progress Hybrid Soapstone
Regency’s F5100 and F3500
Quadra Fire’s 5700 and 3100

I really like the Ideal Steel tho.

I know this post it kinda long and I may have asked too many questions. Thank you for taking the time to read my post.

 

[Dmriggs]

As far as the flue is concerned, I did exactly that. A friend of mine is a chimneysweep and I helped him on the install. My situation was that sometime in the past, the chimney brick had been taken down to below the roof line and a gas furnace flue attached, run through the roof, storm collar and cap.
We installed a stainless 6 inch flex liner which we wrapped in a high temp insulated blanket that has the foil on the outside. If going this route, I recommend some wire wrapped and tied every few feet around the blanket. The furnace tape we used at the bottom, didn't stay stuck very long.
You will also want a stainless 6 inch tee at the height that the stovepipe, enters the flue. The diameter on the vertical ends, are made (increased in diameter), to accept the liner. Stainless steel rivets at every joint and clean out at the bottom. My liner runs clear to the basement and I clean my flue from the bottom up. You'll also want a stainless adapter at the top which will suspend the liner and also that you can attach a chimney cap to.
We did this 15 plus years ago so, some items and ways of doing it, may have changed.
You WILL need help! Trying to manipulate 30 or 40 feet of liner up the side of the house, and back down into the chimney, is a daunting task and will cure you of any insecurities of heights
Check with your building code inspector before anything.
Oh and order everything you need from one supplier if possible. No matter what brand you use, the big box store will not carry your brand ( if your luck is like mine), and you'll end up ordering and waiting for it to arrive. A lot of the stuff, doesn't work together from one company to another....stainless wise.

 

[Dmriggs]

As far as the flue is concerned, I did exactly that. A friend of mine is a chimneysweep and I helped him on the install. My situation was that sometime in the past, the chimney brick had been taken down to below the roof line and a gas furnace flue attached, run through the roof, storm collar and cap.
We installed a stainless 6 inch flex liner which we wrapped in a high temp insulated blanket that has the foil on the outside. If going this route, I recommend some wire wrapped and tied every few feet around the blanket. The furnace tape we used at the bottom, didn't stay stuck very long.
You will also want a stainless 6 inch tee at the height that the stovepipe, enters the flue. The diameter on the vertical ends, are made (increased in diameter), to accept the liner. Stainless steel rivets at every joint and clean out at the bottom. My liner runs clear to the basement and I clean my flue from the bottom up. You'll also want a stainless adapter at the top which will suspend the liner and also that you can attach a chimney cap to.
We did this 15 plus years ago so, some items and ways of doing it, may have changed.
You WILL need help! Trying to manipulate 30 or 40 feet of liner up the side of the house, and back down into the chimney, is a daunting task and will cure you of any insecurities of heights
Check with your building code inspector before anything.
Oh and order everything you need from one supplier if possible. No matter what brand you use, the big box store will not carry your brand ( if your luck is like mine), and you'll end up ordering and waiting for it to arrive. A lot of the stuff, doesn't work together from one company to another....stainless wise.

I forgot to mention in my instance, I had to add four sections of doublewall stainless pipe, storm collar and cap, on top of the cut off brick chimney. This required bracing from flue to the roof and the joint rings that help secure the pipe sections together.

 

[Dix]

Welcome to the forums !!

House lay out, floor plan, pictures are all going to help get you going.

Start collecting firewood NOW You have to have seasoned firewood !! Mucho importante !!

 

[Chad6312]

Dmriggs, Thank you for your input. It was very helpful.

Dix, I do not have the drawing at the moment. I spend months away from home when I work. I will try to have the wife send me some copies. I have about 2 cords I cut this past winter. It's not much, but I will have more by next winter. I just need time off work to cut and stack.

The chimney has evolved into a bigger issue. The county does not have a permit for a chimney on file for my home and the chimney inspector says its not built to code. It will take some time to figure out what it is going on.

Also, I pitched the idea of running a pre-insulated UL 1777 6" SS down the current flue. Now the inspector is saying that the current clay flue is really not 8X13 like he told me before, its realy 6.5" wide so the pre-insulated liner will not fit. Plus, he said the insulated SS liners are designed for fireplace flues and they do not stay warm causing creosote, poor draft, and chimney fires. And my only option is the more expensive poured insulation. Has anyone ran into this problem with the UL 1777 pre-insulated SS liners?

Can anyone clarify my confusion with the BTU issue mentioned above, and has anyone heard of the Ideal Steel over firing when left going overnight?

 

[begreen]

An oval pre-insulated liner should fit, or perhaps consider a 5.5" pre-insulated if no other option.

Plus, he said the insulated SS liners are designed for fireplace flues and they do not stay warm causing creosote, poor draft, and chimney fires. And my only option is the more expensive poured insulation. Has anyone ran into this problem with the UL 1777 pre-insulated SS liners?

BS, that is his opinion and not so. Get a certified CSIA sweep on the site for a better appraisal of options.

BTU specs vary from company to company. Some use max btu output as a marketing figure, others use the EPA test figure. A few go further and provide real world tested numbers. The EPA test number is probably the best way to compare one stove to another. It won't necessarily be the same as your actual output, the test is done with softwood, but it is good for comparison. Just like EPA gas mileage figures for a car, no one can tell how you are going to drive the car. If you have a lead foot then you won't match the EPA numbers. Likewise if you burn poorly seasoned wood, the stove output may not meet expectations.

 

[Chad6312]

begreen,
Thank you for your input. I had a feeling he was trying to drum up business due to the off season, but I didn't want to talk smack due to lack of experience. The sad thing is he is registered at the CSIA website as an inspector.

Also, thank you for the BTU explanation. I will stick with the EPA numbers.